The new production of the 2000 opera will feature a BLO-commissioned, re-orchestrated score by composer Poul Ruders.

Anne Bogart
Craig Schwartz

Boston Lyrics Opera’s upcoming 2018–2019 season will feature a new production of Poul Ruders and Paul Bentley’s opera adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. Performances will run May 3–11, 2019, at a location to be announced. Anne Bogart will direct.

The 2000 opera, based on Margaret Atwood’s novel (also the inspiration for Hulu’s Emmy-winning drama), is set in the dystopian and patriarchal Republic of Gilead, where women are stripped of their rights and placed into a class system—and those who are fertile are assigned to bear children for families in the ruling class.

The cast will be led by Jennifer Johnson Cano as Offred, with Caroline Worra as Aunt Lydia, Maria Zifchak of Serena Joy, Matthew DiBattista as the Doctor, David Cushing as the Commander, and Michelle Trainor as Ofglen.

The production will feature a re-orchestrated score from Ruders, commissioned by BLO, as well as revised opening and closing scenes.

The Handmaid’s Tale is paired with an earlier production of The Rape of Lucretia (March 11–17), with both aiming to explore stories about women emerging as moral and societal leaders. David Angus will conduct the production, featuring Kelley O’Connor, Duncan Rock, Nancy Maultsby, Brandon Cedel, David McFerrin, Jesse Darden, and Antonia Tamer.

The season kicks off October 12–21 with Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Cutler Majestic Theater and will also include Tod Machover and Simon Robson’s Schoenberg in Hollywood, running November 14–18.